For Members

Events

USQ Update

Update on Collegiate Team Bids from 2018 South Regional Championship

by US Quidditch | February 15, 2018

Bids have been awarded to four collegiate teams using a combination of tournament results and USQ standings.

As announced on February 10, US Quidditch cancelled the last three rounds of games of the 2018 South Regional Championship on Saturday, as well as the majority of games on Sunday. While we were able to finish the community division portion of the tournament, the collegiate division portion could not be completed. Following a review of feedback from teams, the USQ events and gameplay departments had significant discussions to determine an appropriate and equitable means to distribute the South’s four collegiate bids, with an emphasis on the results of this past weekend.

Collegiate Division

The collegiate division bids have been awarded to four teams using a combination of the results of games played at the event as well as overall league standings, in a modified at large bid process. First, the scores from all games played at the event were added to the USQ standings, including scores from Saturday’s games as well as the single community division game on Sunday. The updated USQ standings were then used to award bids to the top four South collegiate teams. However, a team was not able to qualify over another team that beat them at this tournament, unless that team had already received a bid.

The four collegiate bids, in alphabetical order, go to Florida State Quidditch, Nearly Headless Knights, University of Florida Quidditch Club, and University of Miami. Please note that these teams are listed alphabetically. Gamecock Quidditch is the first alternate in the case of a deferred bid. A detailed explanation is available in the next section.

USQ will not be determining a collegiate regional champion or runner-up for this tournament.

We thank all teams and players who submitted their feedback to us, either through the survey or directly via email. For additional questions about this process, please email gameplay@usquidditch.org.

More Information About Collegiate Division Bids

After the scores of the games played on February 10 and 11 were included in the USQ standings, the South Collegiate teams were ranked in the following order:

University of Miami [Miami] (22)

Florida State Quidditch [FSU] (37)

Gamecock Quidditch [Gamecock] (56)

Nearly Headless Knights [Knights] (61)

University of Florida [Florida] (80)

College of Charleston (84)

Florida Gulf Coast Quidditch (99)

Quidditch Club at University of Tennessee Knoxville (103)

The University of Southern Mississippi (120)

University of South Florida Quidditch (128)

Note: the number in parenthesis was the team’s overall ranking in the league standings as of Tuesday night.

Miami did not lose to any teams at the event, which is why they receive the first bid.

FSU lost to Florida, which means that they are not able to receive a bid until Florida does.

Gamecock lost to both Miami and FSU, which means they cannot qualify until both of those teams do.

Knights did not lose to any teams at the event, which means they receive the second bid.

Florida lost to Miami, who has already qualified, which means Florida receives the third bid.

Since Florida now has a bid, that means that FSU receives the fourth bid.

Gamecock is the first alternate for a deferred bid, as there are only four bids available in the collegiate division.

Team Registration for US Quidditch Cup 11

Collegiate teams who qualify through South Regional Championship will be given an extension on the team registration deadlines for US Quidditch Cup 11. It will essentially be a one week extension for everything that is region specific, in line with the deadlines for the Northwest region. More information on those updated deadlines can be found here.

Community Division

On Saturday, the gameplay format for community teams was adjusted to a single round robin going into a single elimination bracket. That evening, Florida’s Finest played against Terminus Quidditch Atlanta and Southern Storm played against Gainesville Siege. The winners of those two games, Florida’s Finest and Siege, faced off in a championship match the morning of Sunday, February 11.

Florida’s Finest caught the snitch and won, beating Siege 90* - 40. The head referee of that game was Jacob Baldwin. Baldwin was supported by lead assistant referee Sam Doughton, snitch referee Katrina Bynum, and assistant referees Briana Earhart and Jessica Daly. The snitch runner was Christian Barnes. The final standings for the community division are below. Florida’s Finest has qualified for US Quidditch Cup 11.

Florida’s Finest

Gainesville Siege

Southern Storm

Terminus Quidditch Atlanta

Florida's Finest and Gainesville Siege. Photo by: US Quidditch

Membership Grant

All South regional teams who attended this regional championship will be eligible to apply for one of 14 team registration grants for the 2018-19 season. The grant will be in the amount of $150, and will be applied to a team’s registration fee. Information on how to apply will be available later this season.

Recap

14 teams participated in the regional championship, which took place at Munny Sokol Park North in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on February 10-11, 2018

At this tournament, four bids went to the collegiate division and one bids went to the community division. 88 teams will be attending the national championship in Round Rock, Texas over April 14 and 15, 2018. Teams who did not qualify for a bid through through the regional championship may be eligible to compete at USQC11 through the at-large bid process. Information about qualifying for an at-large bid is available here.

Scores

Scores and standings from day one of the collegiate division and days one and two of the community division are available in the scores spreadsheet here and also this page on the USQ website.

The officials team from the community championship match. Photo by: US Quidditch.

Feedback

We encourage all players, officials, and volunteers to fill out our event survey here.

Additionally, officials evaluations may be submitted by coaches, players, referees, snitch runners, spectators, or event staff. Please use this form to submit a review for any referee (including head referees, assistant referees, or snitch referees). Please use this form to submit a review for a snitch runner. If you have any other feedback or more detailed thoughts after the event, we encourage you to reach out to us at events@usquidditch.org.

US Quidditch wishes to congratulate Florida’s Finest, along with all qualifying and competing teams who raised funds, traveled to the event, and played tough and exciting games. USQ is especially grateful to its volunteers, referees, snitch runners, and staff who helped plan and run the event.

Special thanks to Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreational Authority and Tuscaloosa Tourism & Sports for their support and on the ground assistance.

July 10, 2018 Note: The article was updated to correct an error. The team registration fee grant is for the 2018-19 season, not the 2019-20 season as previously listed

US Quidditch (USQ) is a magical 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to governing the sport of quidditch and advancing the sport by organizing events and programs that build community and empower all genders to compete together. Inspired by the Harry Potter novels, USQ serves athletes and fans, from sport-lovers to book-lovers and everything in between.